Where inner-westies share their favourite vinyl – and darkest secrets!
Pink Floyd – The Wall
by The Westsider Editor, Derek Green
It was 1980 and I was becoming less interested in the top 40 and starting to explore the wonderful world of albums. Sure, “Hey, teacher, leave them kids alone” provided the hook for us young ‘uns, but The Wall – a double LP clocking in at 80 minutes – was so much more than that. It was before the time when you could download 10 albums in a day and listen to them once or twice before deleting them. I saved my money for a couple of months to buy this album so this was it – there was no choice but to actively listen over time and absorb every song, all the lyrics, and of course the colourful gatefold album art which accompanied it – the next purchase wouldn’t be for a while.
Musically this is a journey of quiet lows through to soaring, almost alarming highs, crashing riffs and wonderful harmony vocals, with lots of sound effects and compelling narrative mixed in. While “Goodbye Blue Sky”, “Hey You” and “Nobody Home” provide the build-up goosebumps, “Comfortably Numb”, “Young Lust” and “Waiting for the Worms” deliver the rock pay-load.
A true classic that inspires me today as much as it did then.
